Pole Vault Shots - Critique Please

SoonerShawn

My first pole vault shots. I'd love to hear any critiques or suggestions.









Nikon D3
80-200 f2.8 125mm
f3.5
ISO 200
1/2500

Frog Lady

in spite of the background - love the intensity you captured in the 1st one! My only nit would be the leveling - shouldn't the scoreboard in the background be more vertical?

the others are great too? Those three are all part of a burst series?

nice job.

C.

SoonerShawn

Frog Lady wrote:

in spite of the background - love the intensity you captured in the 1st one! My only nit would be the leveling - shouldn't the scoreboard in the background be more vertical?

the others are great too? Those three are all part of a burst series?

nice job.

C.

Thanks Colleen. I do notice that now. It appears to be a little out of whack in #2 also. I have a problem with that, and I don't know why I keep missing it when I can easily fix it in post processing. Yes these are all from an 8 frame sequence I believe.

2whlrcr

I know nothing about vaulting, but I really like the first one. It's interesting to see the how much the pole bends.

I think it would be helpful to include a wide shot, so we can get a better feel for the height the vaulters are obtaining. Plus it would be interesting to capture them falling into the mat. This with going over the bar would make a neat series.

dbaker1221

very nice shots

nikitynick

just curious, when shooting pole vaults, do you follow the vaulter with the camera, or wait for him to come into the frame? id imagine with at 1/2500 speed blur shouldnt be an issue waiting with a still frame?

anyway shots look great, agree that the first one looks awesome, just a bit much going on in the backruond. also, the vaulter has great technique

zack75144

I'd buy the first shot for sure, possibly the whole set.
Great shot!

Mike J

2whlrcr wrote:

...
I think it would be helpful to include a wide shot, so we can get a better feel for the height the vaulters are obtaining. Plus it would be interesting to capture them falling into the mat. This with going over the bar would make a neat series.

Hey Shawn:

Nice set. I think all of these work because you were focused in-close on the athlete so you get the intensity of the face ($$).

From a commercial standpoint, I agree with 2whlrcr on the context shot. I'm wondering if pairing close-up shots these with a wider-angle context shot would be appealing to these athletes.

SoonerShawn

nikitynick wrote:

just curious, when shooting pole vaults, do you follow the vaulter with the camera, or wait for him to come into the frame? id imagine with at 1/2500 speed blur shouldnt be an issue waiting with a still frame?

anyway shots look great, agree that the first one looks awesome, just a bit much going on in the backruond. also, the vaulter has great technique

This was the first time I shot any pole vaulting so I'm still experimenting. But these were shot on autofocus, following the vaulter. Background issues are just something you can't do much about at these H.S. meets. It wouldn't have mattered which side I shot from, I would have had alot going on in the background.

SoonerShawn

zack75144 wrote:

I'd buy the first shot for sure, possibly the whole set.
Great shot!

Thanks...I wish you were this kid's dad.